S.S. Hahn Quotes in Changeling (2008)

Capt. J.J. Jones: The boy, Walter Collins, was reported as missing March 10th, 1928. We then instituted a nationwide search. On August 18th, we received a cable indicating that a boy matching his description was found in DeKalb, Illinois. Upon questioning, he admitted to being Walter Collins. We then made arrangements for him to be transported back to California.

S.S. Hahn: Where Mrs. Collins told you the boy was not her son.

Capt. J.J. Jones: Yes. She denied his identity in spite of all of the evidence pointing to the contrary.

S.S. Hahn: But, as subsequent events have demonstrated, she was correct. So, what prompted you to send her for psychological evaluation?

Capt. J.J. Jones: Whether or not this was in fact the correct boy was not relevant to my decision. Throughout this period, she acted strangely. She was often cool and aloof and unemotional, especially when confronted with the boy we found in DeKalb and in our subsequent conversation. It was because of her disturbing behavior that I submitted her for observation to the psychopathic ward of Los Angeles County General Hospital.

S.S. Hahn: [snaps his fingers] Just like that. You snap your fingers and an innocent woman is thrown into the psycho ward.

Capt. J.J. Jones: She wasn't thrown.

S.S. Hahn: Every family in this state is in grave danger when a police captain can take a woman into his office and five minutes later have her thrown into the psychopathic ward on his own authority!

[the courtroom erupts with applause]

Capt. J.J. Jones: She wasn't thrown. She wasn't thrown! SHE WASN'T THROWN!

S.S. Hahn: What was that, Captain?

Capt. J.J. Jones: [the courtroom stops clapping] She wasn't thrown. She was escorted.

[the courtroom fills with laughter]

S.S. Hahn: Escorted, thrown, the verb doesn't matter, Captain. What does matter is that her incarceration was ordered without a warrant. I am holding a carbon copy of the affidavit of insanity that was issued in the case of the State of California v. Christine Collins. Who signed the affidavit?

Capt. J.J. Jones: I did.

S.S. Hahn: Well now, let me see if I have this correct. A woman was thrown into the psychopathic ward without a warrant, because no warrant existed. And when it was finally written several days later, there was no need to sign it or to go to a judge because she was already in the asylum! Is this correct, Captain?

Capt. J.J. Jones: Technically, yes. Extraordinary steps were necessary because we were dealing - we were dealing with an extraordinary situation. Now, is it our fault that we were being deceived by a boy who claimed to be Walter Collins? No. In light of his claims and her - her disturbing behavior, who wouldn't begin to think that there was something the matter with her?

S.S. Hahn: Because she questioned you?

Capt. J.J. Jones: No, because she wouldn't listen! Because she insisted on being obstinate! Because she - because she tried to take matters into her own hand best left to qualified officers! Because once civil disobedience starts...

S.S. Hahn: Because she was fighting for the life of her son! A boy who may have still been alive while you were wasting valuable time, denying you had done anything wrong! And in the end, that's what happened, isn't it? At some point, while all this was going on, Walter Collins was brutally murdered, along with as many as nineteen other boys at the Northcott Ranch in Wineville. Is that correct, Captain?

Capt. J.J. Jones: Yes, it is.

S.S. Hahn: [pause] No further questions.